


Sing Me Your Song

by rose_megan



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-17 23:13:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14199717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_megan/pseuds/rose_megan
Summary: "Why was this affecting him so strongly? Yes, it was his resident, his colleague, his friend. But he was a surgeon, he should be able to stay logical and think rationally. The only thing he could manage to think, though, was ‘don’t take him from me’."When Shaun is injured, Neil comes face to face with feelings he always knew were there but never could confront.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first Murlendez fic! It will be multiple parts, I just don't know how many. Please please please let me know what you think, even if it's something short. I really want to know what kinds of things the fandom likes!

Neil Melendez likes order. If it weren’t for his issue with authority, one might believe he was a military guy before coming to Saint Bonaventure. He most enjoyed life when it was organized, with everything in its place, whether it be his sock drawer or his desk or the OR. The same was true of his schedule: He arrives at the hospital no later than 8AM each day, always ensuring his residents are prompt as well. This dedication to order was one of the things he admired about Shaun Murphy. Other than his few slip ups early on with being late (that he truly couldn’t blame him entirely for, public transit in San Jose _was_ a nightmare), Shaun had stayed dedicated to being on time, orderly, and organized. His need to organize and perfect things around him was an aspect of his diagnosis, sure, but mostly it was just an aspect of _him_. Melendez was fairly certain that had Shaun not been on the spectrum, he’d still be just as organized-bordering-obsessive as he was now.

All of this being why when Shaun still hadn’t arrived by 9AM, Melendez was a bit more than worried. He looked between the clock on the wall in the ER, his watch, and his phone about four times before turning to Claire,  
“you seen Murphy?” She looked up from the tablet she’d been reading, shaking her head.

“We just had a 36-hour shift,” she offered with a shrug, “maybe he overslept?”

“I don’t think Shaun oversleeps.” Melendez frowned, recalling the times he’d see Shaun sleep at the hospital in the on-call room, waking up at almost the exact moment his alarm would sound on his phone and mechanically tapping the screen to halt the noise. “Let me know if you hear from him.”

Claire merely nodded before turning back to the tablet, leaving Neil’s worry to fester. He went on about his morning, the concern for Shaun always there in the back of his mind as he tended to patients in the ER, did rounds, and performed a valve replacement. When the young doctor still hadn’t shown up by noon, Melendez promptly got on the elevator and rode it to the 5th floor where Dr. Glassman’s office was. He rapped on the door a few times before entering, not waiting for a reply. He entered to find Glassman sitting at his desk, typing away at his computer. The former looked up at the younger man over the tops of his glasses,  
“can I help you, Dr. Melendez?”

“Have you talked to Murphy today?” This piqued Glassman’s interest. He closed the laptop in front of him and turned in his chair to face Neil more squarely.

“No,” he replied, “why? Has he not come in yet?”

“No, he hasn’t,” Melendez replied, the worry doubling down as the constant feeling of something being not-quite-right settled into his head. “And I’ve tried texting and calling him, no answer.”

“That’s not like him,” Glassman stood, grabbing his own phone off his desk and looking at the screen. He had a few calendar notifications and a text from Jessica about the upcoming board meeting, but nothing from Shaun. “I don’t have anything pressing until this afternoon, I’ll go by his apartment and check on him.”

“Let me know,” Melendez nodded at him, his arms crossed over his chest. He inhaled as he watched Glassman exit the office, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair as he went. After he was gone, Neil sighed, letting the breath out hard and dropping his hands to grip the back of the chair in front of the desk. He wasn’t sure why he was so worried. He just could not shake the intense fear that gripped him; he _knew_ something was wrong, but he just couldn’t figure out why. And since when did he care so much about Murphy? Jared and Claire were late to work plenty of times before, Melendez never got _this_ concerned over it. Even if he couldn’t admit it to himself (yet), something was different with Shaun. The first time he met him, he knew something was different. He treated him poorly at first, and when he looks back on it he feels a pang of guilt in his chest. He was hard on him, much harder than he should have been, but Shaun has proved himself to be an excellent doctor. This fact had not been lost on Neil. He’d gotten the distinct privilege over the last year and a half to help Shaun grow into an accomplished resident and competent surgeon. His heart swelled with pride whenever he thought of Shaun Murphy and his accomplishments, and his work, and his little smile he’d get when he did something right, and his-

“Dr. Melendez,” his head snapped up at his name, seeing Joyce, Glassman’s secretary, standing at the door, “are you alright?”

“Yes,” he coughed, pushing his hands off the chair to stand up straight and adjusting the hem of his suit jacket, “sorry, lost in thought there for a minute.”

She just eyed him curiously, “well your phone was going off.”

Neil nodded a ‘thanks’ and pulled his device out of his pocket, looking at the screen.

_Claire Browne: 911 in ER_

He shoved the device back in his pocket and left the office, going for the elevators. The gnawing worry was ever-present as he rode down to the ground floor. When he entered the ER, he found Claire standing at the nurse’s station with a tablet in hand.

“What’s going on?” She looked up at him, her face showing the same worry that Melendez felt.

“There was a shooting in Shaun’s neighborhood,” she told him, handing him the tablet with the news story pulled up. Her words took every last ounce of air out of his lungs. “It says the victim was a male in his mid to late 20s, but that’s it, but … But it has to be…”

Neil scanned the article, seeing ‘critical condition’ stand out amongst the rest of the text, as well that he had been taken to San Jose Presbyterian. His heart was hammering in his chest as he handed the tablet back to Claire and booked it to the parking lot, fishing his keys out of his pocket. The anxiety was absolutely engulfing him now. It couldn’t be Shaun. It couldn’t be. As he fumbled to start the car, he had the single rational thought to call Glassman.

“Aaron,” he breathed out when he picked up, “I don’t know for sure, but… There was a shooting near Shaun’s apartment.”

“What hospital?”  
“San Jose Pres.”

They didn’t even say a farewell before Neil tapped the ‘end call’ button on his screen and dropped the device into the center console. He gripped the wheel with both hands and attempted to pay attention to the road in front of him as he drove. He didn’t want to think about the possibility of Shaun being hurt, but that was the only thing running through his head.

He pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and parked in the first open spot he could find. He then hastily exited the vehicle and all but ran inside the building and up to the information desk.

“Shaun Murphy,” he stated, his hands landing on the counter with a ‘thud’. “Is Shaun Murphy here?”

The man behind the counter eyed him a moment before typing on the computer in front of him.

“No, there’s no one here by that name,” he told him, “though we do have a John Doe. Late 20s, medium length brown hair and blue eyes.”

“That’s him,” Neil gulped, trying to keep the bile rising in his throat at bay. “That has to be him. I’m Dr. Neil Melendez, he’s my resident at Saint Bonaventure.”

“He’s in surgery right now,” the man told him, looking back at the screen and reading the information off to him, “I’ll take you to one of the nurses that triaged him.”

Neil just nodded and followed the man behind the counter, past admin and intake, and toward the emergency department. The two approached a woman standing near the entrance holding a patient chart.

“Helen,” the woman looked up at their arrival, “this is Dr. Melendez, says he knows John Doe.”

“Neil.” He reached out and shook her hand, “Your John Doe, he was shot near Linwood Place?

“Yeah, he’s around 5’10, about 140 pounds,” she nodded, “dark brown hair, really bright blue eyes. The call came from the Linwood Place Apartments.”

“That has to be him… He’s in surgery?” He asked, and she nodded again, “can I go to the gallery? I could identify him for certain.”

“Yeah, follow me,” she waved for him to follow and he did, his steps stuttering under him as he realized he may be about to see Shaun splayed out on an operating table. Why was this affecting him so strongly? Yes, it was his resident, his colleague, his friend. But he was a surgeon, he should be able to stay logical and think rationally. The only thing he could think, though, was ‘don’t take him from me’.

“He was shot twice,” Helen interrupted his thoughts, “once in the chest and once in the left leg. His heart wasn’t hit, but the damage is extensive.”

She didn’t have to tell Neil about the severity of GSWs to the chest. A bullet entering the chest cavity could do enough damage to warrant a 15-hour surgery, even if it didn’t touch the heart. Neil attempted to refrain from emotion, at least until he saw Shaun. They entered the gallery that overlooked the OR and he took a shaky breath before approaching the glass. A team of at least a dozen people stood around the table, on which a brown-haired man lay, and through the wires, intubation tube, and IVs, he could see clear as day that it was Shaun.

Finally seeing him and realizing his gnawing concern he’d felt all day was actually warranted was enough to send him clear into a panic attack. His breath became shallow and he could feel his throat closing. He tried to reign it in but couldn’t stop himself from gripping the edge of the window, his fingers turning white from squeezing it so hard, and beginning to hyperventilate. He felt positively helpless from this side. At least if he was in the OR, he could be doing something, he could be helping. He could participate and have something productive to do. But in there, just watching, he was left alone with his fear and it was suffocating him.

“Dr. Melendez?” Helen reached out for him, but he held a hand up, keeping her away. He just needed a minute. Just a minute to wrap his head around it all. But he didn’t get a minute. He didn’t get any time at all before the loud beeping came crashing into his thoughts and tore him out of his panic to realize what was going on in the OR below him.

“He’s in v-fib,” a shout rang out from the room, “we’re losing him!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I said I was gonna post this yesterday but I got suuuuper bogged down with school stuff, so I apologize! (And as such, I tried my hardest to make sure there were no mistakes, but my multiple APA reports for school took precedence) 
> 
> Please let me know if you like it!! <3

The waiting was the hardest part. How many times had Neil been in that operating room, hardly noticing how much time had passed while he labored away, saving a life, all the while the person’s family and loved ones sat outside, painfully aware of every last second that ticked by? He didn’t know how much longer he could take. Glassman had shown up about two hours prior and the two had taken to sitting silently in the small waiting room closest to the OR. Neil sat with his legs out, arms resting on his knees and hands clasped in front of him. Aaron sat across from him, leant back on his seat with his hands in his lap holding his phone. He was getting multiple calls from Jessica, Aoki, and everyone else in admin at the hospital, but he pressed the ‘decline’ button every time. He didn’t have news for them. He knew nothing. Neil knew nothing. The last thing they were told was that Shaun had been standing outside his apartment building when he was shot. Their best guess was robbery, as he didn’t have any sort of ID on him when he was found, but they don’t know for sure. They don’t know.

Damn it, he needed to know.

Neil jumped up from his seat and stalked over to the information desk in long strides, the creeping fear propelling him forward. He had to know.

“Is there an update on Shaun Murphy?” The nurse behind the counter was one he hadn’t spoken to yet, as shift change had just occurred. The older woman with short blonde hair whose nametag read ‘Clara’ looked up at him from her book then down again at the computer. She scanned the screen for a moment before replying,  
“based on the last update, they should be close to finishing now,” she told him, “barring any complications.”

Neil just sighed, his head dropping and eyes closing tight as he stood there. He kept replaying the scene over and over in his head; Shaun lying supine on the operating table, cut from stem to stern with his organs basically spilling out of him as the surgeons attempted to retrieve the bullet fragments from his thoracic cavity. He had gone into v-fib (his heart rate bottoming out) but they brought him back fairly quickly with some adrenaline. That was the last picture of Shaun that Neil had in his head before he was pulled out of the gallery by the nurse, Helen, who had quickly realized he was obviously a bit closer to the patient than just being his boss.

“Neil,” the man looked up with a sharp inhale, seeing Aaron at his side looking toward the doors that led to the OR. His head snapped in that direction, seeing a doctor heading toward them.

“Are you here for Shaun Murphy?” The two nodded, and Neil could feel his heart stop as he waited to hear what they said next; “he’s stable.” He let out a long breath, his hands dropping to his sides.

“How bad is it?” He asked, dread lacing every word.

“One bullet entered his left chest,” the woman began, her hands together in front of her, “it entered and immediately fragmented, throwing shrapnel all throughout his chest cavity. It took some doing, but we retrieved all of the fragments and his biggest obstacle right now is potential infection.”

“What about his leg? Aaron spoke up, his voice raspy, as if he was choking back emotion. “He was shot in the leg too, correct?”

“Yes, that bullet went clean through, nicked his femoral artery on the way,” she nodded, “he lost a substantial amount of blood, but we got it under control. He’ll need some physical therapy once it’s healed, but all things considered, he’s doing very well.”

Those words were all Neil needed to hear for the vice around his heart to finally loosen. Shaun was hurt (pretty badly), but he’d be okay. He survived. With that fear gone, a new equally-as-unsettling feeling took up residence in his gut, but he couldn’t place what that feeling was.

“Can we see him?” Aaron was speaking again, for which Neil was grateful. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to say anything if he wanted to.

“Sure,” the doctor nodded, “he’s in recovery, so he’s still unconscious of course, though.”

The two men just nodded their understanding as they followed the doctor to the recovery area outside the operating room. The room was small, just four bays all curtained off for privacy. She lead them to the last one and parted the curtain, revealing Shaun lying unconscious in the bed. He looked sickly; his skin was pale and he had dark circles under his eyes. He was hooked up to all the standard stuff: heart monitor, pulse oximeter, oxygen, IV, the works. He barely looked like Shaun underneath all the wires and equipment. The very sight of him almost made Neil throw up, and he only allowed himself the briefest of moments to ponder why his reaction was so vehement before walking slowly toward the bed.

“Oh, Shaun,” Aaron breathed out behind Neil, gripping his coat in one hand and rubbing his head worriedly with the other. “What happened?”

His question obviously went unanswered as the two of them watched the young doctor’s still form with worry, though assured by the steady beep of the heart monitor that sat adjacent to the bed.

“I need to go to the hospital, give some updates and get some stuff done,” Glassman announced after a few minutes, “I want to be able to spend some time here later without interruption.”

“I’ll be here,” Neil blurt out before Aaron even had time to finish his sentence, surprising even himself. “I don’t have any surgeries scheduled, and Jared and Claire can handle the patient load today.”

“Okay,” Aaron nodded, “good, I want someone here when he wakes up.” He looked at Neil carefully, noting the deep worry lines in his forehead and around his eyes and the frown that had set on his face and he came to a sudden, halting realization that maybe Melendez saw Shaun as something other than his resident. He didn’t have time to unpack all that right then, though, so he stored the thought in the back of his mind to come back to later and gave Neil a pat on the shoulder.

“He’ll be fine,” he said softly, “call me the very second he wakes up, okay?”

Neil just nodded, never taking his eyes off Shaun. At that, Aaron turned to leave, giving one last glance to the young man in the bed before he parted the curtain and left the small cubicle. The room was quiet again save for the whirring of the machines and the steady beat of Shaun’s heart on the monitor, which was the only thing keeping Neil grounded at that moment. His heart was beating. He was okay. He was through the worst of it, and he’d recover fully. He had to.

After a few moments of standing at the foot of the bed, arms crossed, Neil took up post in the seat beside Shaun, inching just a little bit closer to the bed as he sat down. Melendez knew that Shaun would be in recovery until he woke up, after which he’d be moved to a room. Waking up could take anywhere from a half hour to four hours after a surgery, especially one as intensive as his, so he knew he’d have a while to wait. As time wore on slowly, the feeling from before crept up again and this time, Neil explored it. What was it? He cared for Shaun, of course. He was his colleague, his friend. They’d grown to know each other fairly well and had come a long way since Shaun first started at Saint Bonaventure, so yes, he cared for him. As he sat, studying Shaun’s still face, noting the way the corners of his mouth naturally curved upward -even as he slept- and how a few stray strands of hair fell messily on his forehead, Neil realized he did care for him.

A lot.

As in, he had huge, messy, true, unbelievable, capital-F Feelings for Shaun Murphy.

“Shaun…” He choked out, swallowing the lump in his throat that had appeared as he mulled over his thoughts. How had this happened? When? And how had he not realized this before? It wasn’t like Neil was new to having feelings for men; he had realized he was bi in college and had been in plenty of relationships with men since then. It wasn’t like these feelings for Shaun were some sort of life-altering, identity-crisis-causing revelation. But maybe, in a way, they were. Shaun was his subordinate. His employee, for all intents and purposes, and a relationship with him would jeopardize everything Shaun had worked for. On the other hand, the hospital had no real policy in place for doctors dating besides having to disclose the relationship to your superiors to ensure accountability.

Neil scoffed at himself, shaking his head. He just realized two minutes ago that he may have feelings for him, and he was already considering the logistics of their relationship? He didn’t even know if Shaun was interested in men, let alone what he would think about his superior being the person of interest. Neil felt his heart seize at that thought; that maybe he would have to live with these feelings for rest of his life and never be able to do anything about them. To feel like maybe Shaun was who he was meant to be with, but he wasn’t who Shaun was meant to be with.

He reached out and grabbed Shaun’s hand, running a thumb along his fingers, and he felt _right_. That was how it was supposed to be.

“Dr. Melendez?” He looked up at Shaun’s face, his eyes wide in surprise. His voice had been weak, barely above a whisper. “What happened?”

“You tell me, Shaun,” Neil replied, letting go of Shaun’s hand and standing up. He could feel his own fingers tingling at the absence and he frowned, “you were found outside your apartment building. You were shot.”

He could see Shaun process the information as his face morphed from a look of confusion to that of realization.

“I… Was getting my mail,” he nodded, more loose hair spilling across his forehead, “I was getting my mail and a man approached me. He said that I had to give him my wallet but I didn’t have my wallet and he got very angry.”

Neil could tell he was beginning to spiral and he attempted to comfort him, but Shaun continued speaking,

“he said I had to give it to him, so I said I could go inside and get it,” his words were punctuated with an occasional cough or raspy inhalation, “he asked if I was stupid, and said that he wasn’t going to let me leave. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t have anything to give him.”

“It’s okay Shaun,” Neil spoke softly, leaning forward and hesitantly placing a hand on his arm. He was surprised when he didn’t recoil, and actually seemed to calm a bit. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“My chest hurts.” His statement was matter-of-fact. It wasn’t a pained cry, or even a complaint. Just a true statement. “And my leg.”

“Yeah, I know.” Neil didn’t release his hand. “They will for a while, but you’ll be okay.”

“I’m sorry I missed my shift.”

“Murphy,” the older man shook his head, the faintest smile finding its way to his face, “given the present circumstances, I’d say you had a good reason to miss work.”

Shaun only nodded and looked down at his arm where Neil’s hand was, only just then realizing he was touching him. A look of pure confusion passed across his features as he raised his eyes to meet Neil’s.

“What is it Shaun?”

“I… Don’t know.”

He didn’t press him, he just sat back down, his hand sliding down a ways to rest across Shaun’s wrist. They sat in silence, the younger man staring at the hand on his arm the entire time. Finally, after several minutes, he spoke up,  
“it doesn’t feel bad.”

“What doesn’t feel bad Shaun?"

He paused, obviously taking care to think over his words before he said them, “you. You’re touching me. It doesn’t feel bad. It doesn’t feel wrong.”

Neil didn’t know how to reply. All he could do is feel his face flush as he watched Shaun stare at his arm, perplexed. Maybe Shaun did feel the same way? He didn’t have time to ponder that thought as a small team of people entered the even smaller space. There were a couple of doctors and a few nurses, and that was when Neil remembered he should have let them know when Shaun woke up.

“Hi Dr. Murphy,” the same doctor that had given Melendez and Glassman the news before approached the bed first. “I’m Dr. James, I performed your surgery today with my team here. How are you feeling?”

“I am in pain,” was Shaun’s short reply, his fingers fiddling with the bedsheets.

“I would imagine so,” Dr. James smiled softly, “we repaired shrapnel damage in your chest. The bullet missed your heart and lungs but the impact and resulting fracturing of the bullet did a real number on you.”

“When can I go to work?” Dr. James laughed this time,  
“not for a while, I’m afraid. That leg wound is gonna keep you down for at least four weeks, maybe more.”

Shaun just hummed, looking down at his legs.

“We have you on ampicillin in case of infection,” Dr. James continued at his silence, “but I would say that you’re out of the woods. We’ll have you in ICU until tomorrow just in case, though.”

“Thank you.” Shaun nodded his head curtly, keeping his eyes lowered.

Dr. James placed a hand on his shoulder and he shrunk into the bed, away from her touch. She just smiled at him, withdrawing her hand, “we’ll leave you two alone. Someone will be in shortly to transfer you upstairs.”

After everyone was gone, Neil realized the implication of her parting statement and looked down to see he was still holding on to Shaun's wrist and had taken to absentmindedly stroking the top of his hand with his thumb.

“Dr. Melendez,” Shaun started, “I have something to say.”

“Yeah, me too.” Neil finally let go of Shaun and again, felt the near-painful absence of his touch. “I’m sorry, I’m being inappropriate. I… I don’t know what I’m thinking or what I’m feeling, I’m confused, I guess. I don’t-“

“Dr. Melendez,” Shaun interrupted him, his voice a bit louder. “I want to say something.”

“I’m sorry,” Neil nodded, puffing out his cheeks and exhaling, “go ahead.”

“When I was lying on the ground after the man shot me, I don’t remember a lot of what was happening or what I was thinking,” he began, “but I remember that I was thinking about you.”

Neil gulped, unsure of where he was going with that statement and not wanting to get his hopes up.

"I’m not good at talking about emotions,” Shaun continued, looking anywhere but at the man in front him, “or understanding them. But when I was thinking about you, I was thinking how I was sad. I was very sad that I may leave you. That hurt a lot, almost as much as the bullet.”

“What are you saying, Shaun?” Neil’s voice came out as a near whisper, his glassy eyes studying Shaun’s pensive face.

“I like you.” Again, it was just a statement of fact. “And I think that based on your reaction to me being injured, you like me too.”

“I do, Shaun,” Neil smiled, slowly reaching for his hand again and smiling even wider when he let him take it. “I really do. I don’t know when these feelings began, or why, but… I do, I have feelings for you.”

Shaun’s face reddened, and he breathed in and out shallowly a few times as he smiled.

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say now.” He finally looked at Neil, his own eyes shiny. “I think I’m supposed to say something.”

“It’s fine,” Neil pulled Shaun’s hand to his mouth and gave it a gentle kiss, “you don’t have to say anything. Not a single thing.”

***

Later, in Shaun’s room in the ICU, Neil was sitting in the chair beside the bed again and Aaron had claimed the small couch on the other side of the room. Shaun had been asleep since he was transferred there, for which both other men present were grateful for. He needed all the rest he could he could get. The two had spent the majority of the last few hours working silently on their laptops or phones, catching up on necessary tasks from work that day that they’d missed. It was nearing eight in the evening, and Aaron had just finished the last of his work when he looked up at Neil. The dark-haired man had his laptop in his lap but he wasn’t working; his eyes were trained on Shaun, one arm crossed over his chest and the other stroking his chin as if deep in thought.

“Something on your mind?” Aaron’s words drew Neil out of his contemplation.

“What?” He reflexively replied, feeling as though he was caught doing something he shouldn’t have been. “Oh, uhm… No, not really. Just glad he’s okay.”

“Anything else?” He pressed him, wanting him to just say it instead of having to ask him. “Anything at all?”

“You know.” Neil didn’t ask, merely stated, and Aaron laughed gently.

“You’re not very good at hiding it,” he grinned, “and Shaun hasn’t been either.”

“How could I not have been good at hiding it?” Neil smiled now, “I only just realized I had these feelings for him today.”

“No, I think you knew,” Aaron shook his head, “you knew before, you just couldn’t see it. Couldn’t admit it.”

Neil contemplated his words. Maybe he had known? The way he hung on to every word Shaun spoke as he diagnosed a patient in ways no one else there could have, or the way his eyes lingered on him just a little bit longer than normal as they were in the OR and he asked him to explain whatever procedure they were performing. He had only though that maybe he was fascinated by his abilities, his talent, but maybe he was fascinated with him. With Shaun, and everything about him.

“Neil,” Aaron spoke up again, “are you… Going to pursue this?”

“Shaun and I talked a little bit,” he replied with a shrug, “I don’t know, maybe?”

“He’s different, you know.” Aaron sighed, dropping his cell phone into his jacket pocket. “Being in a relationship with him, it would be… It would be hard.”

“All relationships are hard,” Neil countered.

“Yes, but…” The other man sighed again, “the challenges with Shaun are unique, you’ve seen it.”

“Exactly,” Neil was feeling defensive now, “I’ve seen it, so I know how to handle any challenge that comes along.”

In that moment, it was no question for him. The moment Shaun was out of that hospital, they were going on a date. A proper date, with a fancy dinner, good music, the works.

“I can’t stop you,” Aaron rose and grabbed his jacket and briefcase. “Just please be careful.” He walked over and put a hand on Neil’s shoulder,

“Shaun sees the absolute best in people,” he spoke softer this time, “it’s hard for him to realize when he’s being hurt, but when he does… It ruins him. Don’t ruin him, Dr. Melendez.”

Before he could react to the warning, Aaron was already out the door. The very implication that he would do anything to hurt Shaun made him see red. The last thing he would ever do is hurt that man. The man that he’d come to realize meant absolutely everything to him. The man he wanted to be with.

No, he would never hurt him. He couldn’t.

Neil put his laptop on the table beside him and leaned over to grasp Shaun’s hand. The young man was still asleep, offering no reaction to the touch. Neil just smiled and gripped his hand with both his own, rubbing small circles with his thumbs. After a few moments, he leaned forward, resting his head on the edge of the bed, realizing for the first time just how tired he was. The day was emotionally and physically taxing, and all he wanted was to sleep.

***

When Shaun awoke, he didn’t notice the man attached to his hand at first. Instead, his first focus was the searing pain in his chest and he realized his morphine must have run out. It was when he went to move his right arm to reach for the call button that he saw his hand was encased by Neil Melendez’s. The man’s head was resting next to him, his soft hair tickling his arm as he stirred awake.

“Shaun,” Neil sat up, blinking a few times to clear his eyes. “Good morning.”

“Dr. Melendez,” he nodded, looking down at his hand with the same perplexed look he’d had the day before. “It hurts.”

Neil immediately withdrew his hands, worry engulfing him. Had Shaun changed his mind?

“My chest…” Shaun elaborated. “My chest hurts.”

“Oh,” Neil sighed inwardly and pressed the call button on the remote to summon a nurse. “We’ll get you some more pain meds.”

“Okay.”

“Y’know,” Neil said after a moment, “I think it would be appropriate for you to call me by my first name.”

“Okay,” Shaun repeated, “Neil.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will probably be one more part! Also, I kinda forgot about Morgan and Park so... Idk maybe they just decided to leave.  
> p.s. i suck at endingssss

**Author's Note:**

> The title is taken from a reaaaally good song by Judah and the Lion that really makes me think of Murlendez.


End file.
